Lint-cotton accumulator and conveyer.



Patented nerfs; 1899.' J. w.- GRAVES.

LIT CTTN ACCUHULATR AND CNVEYER.

(Application led Yeh. B, 1898,!

3 Sheets-Sheet I.

MMM

N0. 633,996. Patented Oct. 3,- i899. J. W. GRAVES.

UHT GOTTUN'AUCUHULATOR AND CDNVEYER.

(Application led Feb, S, 1898.

(No Model.) 3 Sheets-Sheet 2.

llltoano" No. 633,996. Paten'fed oct. 3, |899. .1. w. GRAVES.

UHT CUTT CCUMULTRND CNVEYEH.

. (Application filed Feb. 8, 1898.1 -';No Model-. 3 SheetsfSheet 3.

4: fw f f@ UNITnn ,STAT-nsf lPATnrVr OFFICE.

JoHN W. GRAvnsor LITTLE Roon, ARKANSAS.

UNT-COTTON AQCUMULATOR A ND CONVEYER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent o. 633,996, dated October 3, 1899.

Application iiled February 8., 1898. Serial No.. 659,604. (No model.)

To @ZZ whom, t mag/concern.'

Be it known thatl, JOHN W. GRAVES, a citi- -zen of the United States, residing at Little Rock, in the county of Pulaski and State ot Arkansas, have inventedcertain new and useful Improvements in Lint-Cotton Accumula` y tors and Conveyers; and I do hereby decla-re the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same. Y c f My invention relates to certain Vnew and useful improvements in accumulatore and conveyers for lint-cotton on its way from the gins to the press. f

Prior to my invention in apparatus for feedf ing the press directly from the gi-ns it has been necessary either to interrupt the action of` the gins While the, formed bale was being removed from the press or else to provide an additional press, into which the bat was fed without stopping the gins. The first of these expedients involved muchloss of time and the second a largely-increasedV expense bef cause of the very considerable cost of the additional press required.

yMy invention is designedto obviate .the disadvantages of the former practice hypermitting a continuous operation of the ginning apparatus during the said'periods of inactivity of the press andwithout necessitating the employment of lan additional pres s. To this end I have devisedvan apparatus f wherein While the press istemporarily out of service the ginning operation proceeds uninterruptedly, the cottonfrom the giusbein'g detained in the meantime on its Way to the V,represents.a longitudinal vertical sectionof` an apparatus embodying my invention. `lig.

press and accumulating in a receiver of ample.

capacity,fron1 which it is subsequently for?` warded tothe press Without interfering with .the regularity or harmony of the operation.

'In the kaocorupanying drawings, lFigure l 2 represents'a top planview and partial section on a' plane indic'eated` bythe line 2 2,01:` Fig. Fig. 3 represents a transverse vertical section on a kplane indicated by they line 3y dof Fig.` l. Fig, Ltrepresents a section .on a plane indicated by the line 4 et of Fig. Zand vfurther illustratesin section certain minor details of construction.

' Similar figures of reference indicate similar parts throughout the several views.

Referring to the drawings, it will be observed that the apparatus consists, in part, of a main housing provided with outer walls 5 and inner Walls 6, leaving an intervening space 7, partitioned'at diiterent points, as indicated by dotted lines in Fig'. l, so as to forni air and dust discharge conduits opening at their lower ends into the outer air. The inner walls 6, together With the end walls, form anzinelosed chamberor lint-room S, Within Whose lower portion is located a traveling conveyer, consisting, preferably, of a series l of transverse slats 9, secured to endless bands 10, which pass over drums 11, one of Which is rotatedby means of a pulley 12. I prefer to operate ,the pulley l2 by a belt from the lpress-shafting, 4so that when the press is stopped the pulley isbrought to restlikewise, 'and vice versa; but in any event I contemplate makingthe rotation of the pulley independent of the ginning apparatus, the condensers, and disintegrators in the sense that it (andconsequently the conveyer) may be stopped Without interfering with the continued operation of the parts referred to.A At the discharge or delivery end of the conveyor ris located, in elongated bearings permitting y yare situateda seriesof cylindersili 15 16 17 18 covered with Wire-gauze and which rotate in a direction opposed to the travel of thev cot-y tonV upon the conveyor. .They determine the thickness ofthe bat before. its compression by ltheiroll 13,;and consequently determine its ultimatey thicknes'sin the bale. QTheV tendency ofV each cylinder is to throw` rearwardly all; cotton in excess of Vthat whichxvill naturally pass between it and the surface of the .,conveyer, and I `preferably arrange vrhein at v gradually-increasing distances above the con-V v'eyer,"y as indicated in Fig. l, so that the thickness 'of the bat increases correspondingly as it approaches the compression-roll These cylinders serve as disintegrators for the cot-` ton entering the lint-chamber from the series 'y IOO of superjacent condensing-cylinders 19. The

condensingcylinders are of the. same struc-v ture as the 'disintegrating-cylinders and consist of longitudinal slats spaced apart and secured to end spiders mounted upon actuating-shafts. They are open at theirends and covered With a Wire screen of such mesh that the lint-cotton from the air-trunks of the gins will be arrested by the screen, whereas the dust will pass through thescreen and out through theopen ends of the cylinders into the partioned air and dust discharge passages intervening between the inner "and outer walls of the apparatus. The said cylinders 19 are boxed Within casings 20, extending transversely across and Within the lint-room 8. They are provided with guards 21 of flexible fabric or the like for excluding the aircurrent from the lint-room 8 and also with bat-rolls 22, which discharge directly upon the peripheries of the corresponding subjacent disintegratingcylinders.

The disintegrating-cylinders 14 15 16 17 rotate ata higher speed than the condensercylinders, and consequently have a faster peripheral motion. Consequently as the bats :from the condensers fall upon ythe peripheries of the disintegratingcylinders they are vio f lently projected therefrom and With'such energy that the batsL are completely broken up and disintegrated, so that in their loosenedand disaggregated condition they can be reunited to form a unitary and homogeneous bat below. The peripheral speed of the disintegratiug-cylinders I preferably make twice thaty of the condensing-cylinders', 'a result which is readily obtained, for instance, by beltifng each condensing-cylinder to its corresponding disintegratiiig-cylinder and correspondingly Varying the size of the belt-pulleys, as shown.

i The condenser-cylinders themselves may, as shown, be conveniently actuated t e one from the other, one of the series being riven from a pulley on the shaft of the cylinder 18 and said cylinder being driven from the lineshafting by a belt passing over the pulley 23, or any other suitable arrangement may be employed for producing the desired rotation.

of the several cylinders.

In many instances -it will be desirable to employ the apparatus at one time in connection'with a set of gins supplying a certain grade of lint-cotton and. at another time in connection with a set of gins supplyingklintcotton of a different grade. Ihave provided for this contingency by supplying each condenser with a duplex lint-conveying fine, the separate branches 24 25 of which lead, respectively, to different gins. These branches merge into one at the entrance to the condenser, and a slide or gate 26, having an operating-handle, is provided adapted to cut off one of the branches from communication with service.

the condenser When the other branch is in A flanged cover 27 serves in each now be apparent. The lint-cotton received from the gins through the particularconduit branches in use is gathered upon the peripheries of the rotating condensers and is fed, in the form ot bats, upon the peripheries of the corresponding disintegrating-cylinders, the dust in the meantime passing out through the open ends of the condensers and finally into'the outer air. As the condenser-bats fall upon the disintegrating-cylinders they are violently projected therefrom by centrifugal force and are broken upand pulled apart by the energy with which they are acted upon by the rapidly-revolving surfaces. The conveyer having been putin motion in the meantime and the press started the body of disintegrated cotton is carried forward toward the compression-roll and a new and uniformly homogeneous bat begins to form, gradually increasing in thickness'for the reason that the disintegrating-cylinders throw rearwardly all cotton in excess of that Which will naturally pass between their peripheries and the upper surface of the conveyer.' Then the bat thus formed reaches the discharge or delivery end of the conveyer, it immediately begins to pass beneath the compression-roll and is thereafter continuously fed in a condensed condition t'o the press untily it is desired to stopv the press.

When thepress is to be stopped for the withdrawal and tying of a formed bale or otherwise, thecondensing and disintegrating cylinders are permitted to continue their revolu tion, but the feed to the press is interrupted by unclutching or otherwise throwing out of action the connection which operates the pulley, thereby bringing the endless conveyer to a standstill. accumulate within the lint'room and around about the disintegrating-cylinde-rs; 'but this introduces nocomplication, for the reason that the space vis of ample capacity and because the rollers 14 15 16 17 1S act continuously to throw the surplus material rear- IOO Thereupon the cot-ton begins to IIO- wardly without permitting it to clog. As soon IZO den ser-cylinders within the lint room or space' l yinclosed by the inner walls, and a bat-con1 pressing conveyer below the disintegratingcylinders.-

2. In a cotton accumulator and conveyer,

a double-Walled housing, the inner Walls being separated from the outer by an intermedate space, condenser-cylinders having open ends communicating with said intermediate space, disintegrating-cylinders located below the condenser-cylinders Within the lint room or space inclosed by the inner Walls, a batcompressing conveyer below the disintegrating-cylinders, and duplex lintconveying trunks leading to the condensers.

3. In a cotton accumulator and conveyor, the combination with condensing devices, of a lint-box Within which the condensing devices discharge, a disintegrator located be- 10W the condenser-cylinders for breaking up the cotton received from the condensing devices, and a bat conveyer and compressor for combining' the disintegrated cotton into a unitary bat.

4. In a cotton accumulator and conveyer, the combination with condensing-cylinders, of a lint-box Within which the condensingcylinders discharge, disintegrating-cylinders located below the condenser-cylinders for breaking up the cotton received from the condensing-cylinders, and a bat conveyor and compressor.

5. In a cotton accumulator and conveyor, the combination with condensing-cylinders, of a lint-box Within which the condensingcylinders discharge,snbjacent disintegratingcylinders for breaking up the cotton received from the condensing-cylinders, and a bat con- Veyer and compressor, the disintegrating-cylinders being located at successively-increasing distances above the conveyor from the rear toward the discharge end thereof.

6. In a cotton accumulator and conveyor, the combination with condensercylinders, of disintegrating-cylinders located below the condenser-cylinders and receiving the cotton from the condensers upon their peripheries, and means for imparting to the disintegrating-cylinders a higher peripheral speed than that of the condensing-cylinders.

7. In a cotton accumulator and conveyer, the combination withcondenser-cylinders, ofV

disintegratingcylinders located below the and connecting-gear for driving the disinte-4 grating-cylinders `from the condenser-cylinders at an increased peripheral speed.

8. In a cotton accumulator and conveyor, a traveling conveyor providedat its discharge end with a bat-com pressing roll, and a series of cylinders for determining the thickness of the bat, said cylinders being located above the traveling conveyor and means for rotating each cylinder of the series in a direction f vend thereof, bat-forming cylinders above the conveyer and means for rotating them in opposition to the travel of the cotton upon the conveyer, and means for interrupting the travel of the conveyor Without stopping the rotation of the cylinders.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two Witnesses.

l JOHN W. GRAVES,

Witnesses: JOHN C. PENNIE,

HUGH M. STERLING. 

